Living with Christ in the Shadow of the Cross (Mark 12:13-17)

Living with Christ in the Shadow of the Cross:
Mark 12:13-17

The Pandemic over the last two years will not be forgotten by this generation. We will likely talk about it frequently as we move into the future, just as we have done with 9/11 and Pearl Harbor. It was a once-in-a-generation event that we hope doesn’t ever happen again. Among the questions that were raised by the pandemic is the relationship between the civil government and God’s people. To be more precise: Does the civil government have the right by God to force God’s people not to worship?

When God formed His people, Israel, after they left Egypt, He gave them the Law through Moses, which set up elders over His people. In that context, God also gave them the land of Canaan in which to live. We might say that Israel answered to no one outside of their own people. There was no other nation that ruled over them for several hundred years.

But that all changed when - because of Israel’s sins (specifically idolatry) - God allowed the nation of Babylon to invade and to take Israel into Babylon, out of their homes and away from their land. When that happened, God sent the prophet Jeremiah to tell Israel these words: ““Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, ‘Build houses and live in them; and plant gardens and eat their produce. ‘Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, that they may bear sons and daughters; and multiply there and do not decrease. ‘Seek the welfare (peace) of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare (peace) you will have welfare (peace)’” (Jer. 29:4-7).

Later, when Persia took over Babylon and allowed Israel to return, the Persians still effectively ruled over the land of Israel. But, King Cyrus asked Israel to pray for the life of their king (who was him) (Ezra 6:10; 7:23).

That was to be Israel’s attitude when the Greeks conquered the Persians and ruled the land of Israel and then when the Romans conquered the Greeks and ruled over the land of Israel. God’s people learned to live in two words: the religious / spiritual world where their ultimate allegiance belonged to Jehovah God and the civil / secular world where some respect and submission was required of the kings and governors and emperors who ruled over them.

So the same question arises today in the minds of Christians: What is the relationship between the church and state? In Mark 12, in the last week of Jesus’ life on earth, He answers that question. On the second Sunday night of the month this year, we are looking at twelve events from that fateful week and studying lessons Jesus gave to His people. We are “living with Jesus in the shadow of the cross” in this series of studies. What did Jesus teach us, on His way to being crucified, about the relationship between the church and state?

The events in this chapter (Mark 12) take place, scholars believe, on Tuesday of the so-called “Passion Week.” At the end of the last chapter, Jesus was having controversy with the Pharisees. This chapter continues until He silences the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and the newly-introduced Herodians. First, Jesus tells a parable which alludes to the coming destruction of Jerusalem (12:1-12). Secondly, the Pharisees and Herodians challenge Him on the subject of taxes (12:13-17). Thirdly, the Sadducees challenge Him on the question of life after death (12:18-27). Jesus’ answer silences the Sadducees and Herodians. Fourthly, an individual Pharisee challenges Him on the greatest commandment (12:28-34). Fifthly, Jesus challenges the Pharisees on the question of the identity of David’s Son (12:35-37). This silences the Pharisees. In the last two paragraphs of this chapter, Jesus warns His followers about false teachers (12:38-40) and He praises the generous giving of a widow (12:41-44).

THE QUESTION - 12:13-15a:
Pharisees (ver. 7) are found in Mark 12 times. The Pharisees were strict about the Law (Acts 22:3; 26:5; Phil. 3:5) so that they created behaviors forbidden lest they lead someone to violate the law. These behaviors eventually became traditions, a “hedge around the Law,” and eventually became the Law of God, in the minds of the Pharisees. Their Hebrew name comes from perushim, which means “separate ones.” The Pharisees seem to be the dominant Jewish sect in the NT and yet during the Herodian era, there were only about 6,000 Pharisees among the Jewish people.

The Pharisees were mainly among the middle and lower classes of people. They did not support hellenization very strongly. That was the process of spreading the Greek culture among the Jews. They believed that God had given both the written law to Moses as well as the oral laws and the oral laws were passed down from elders to elders to, of course, the Pharisees. The Pharisees first appear named in written sources during the rule of Jonathan Maccabee in 150 B. C. As the Hasmoneans - the leading group of Jews before the time of Jesus - become increasingly hellenized, the Pharisees turned against them even more strongly. Because the Pharisees held so strictly to “oral law” and “oral law” is easily malleable, after the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, it was the Pharisees who survived and evolved into what is called the rabbinic Judaism that stretched into the Middle Ages.

“Herodians” (ver. 13) were politically oriented Jews, who probably supported the reign and policies of King Herod perhaps more openly and boisterously than the typical Jew. They are not mentioned anywhere else in early writings. The Jewish religious leaders are exasperated that Jesus continues to win the argument and His popularity is not decreasing. The Pharisees have verbally attacked Jesus before (see, for example: 2:16, 24; 3:6; 7:1; 8:11; 10:2).

They came to Jesus, notice, to “trap” him. This verb is used only here in the NT. This shows us that these men were not sincerely wanting to know what God’s will - or Jesus’ will - was on the question. They are insincere. Jesus notices that too; in verse 15, Mark notes that Jesus knew their “hypocrisy.”

Notice what all they say to Jesus:

1.) We know that you are truthful. If they sincerely believed Jesus was “truthful,” why didn’t they do what Jesus told them to do? The word means “honest.”
2.) You defer to no one. The word “defer” here means “to be concerned about.” For example, in Luke 10:40, Martha asked Jesus, “Do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone?” The word “care” is this word “defer.” What these men are saying is that Jesus was not concerned about His popularity, when it comes to what He taught. Added to that first statement these men are saying that Jesus was going to teach what He believed was the truth from God, regardless of how or what people said or felt about it. Just like what we saw in Galatians 1:10 a few weeks ago about the apostle Paul. He did not strive for the favor of men; he did not seek to please men, but God. That is the attitude these men say they recognize in Jesus.
3.) You are not partial to any. Literally, the Greek language says, “You do not look at the face of men.” The idea is that Jesus does not adjust His teaching based on how men (or their faces) react to His teaching. The NT is very emphatic that God does not change His teachings and His practices based on whim. God is “no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34; Rom. 2:11; Gal. 2:6; Eph. 6:9; Col. 3:25).
4.) You teach the way of God in truth. Again, if these men truly believed that Jesus “taught the way of God in truth,” then why wouldn’t they trust Jesus and obey? It’s because there were being hypocrites and they did not at all believe what they were actually saying. I don’t know if I have ever known someone who was so blatantly hypocritical.

After trying to “soften up” Jesus so He might “lower down His guard,” the Pharisees and Herodians get to their question: Is it lawful to pay a poll-tax to Caesar, or not? Shall we pay or shall we not pay?”

“Caesar” (ver. 14) denoted the head of the Roman Empire. The first was Julius Augustus Caesar whose name became a title for later rulers. This specific Caesar (ruling from A. D. 14-37) would be Tiberius Caesar. He had coins minted with an inscription: “Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus.” On the other side was the goddess of peace, Pax, with an inscription: “High Priest” (pontifex maximus).

Two denariuses per person annually were used to pay for upkeep for the temple in Jerusalem (see Exo. 30:11-16; 38:25-26; Neh. 10:32-33; 2 Chron. 24:6, 9). After the fall of Jerusalem in A. D. 70, the tax went to maintain the pagan temple, of Jupiter Capitolinus, in Jerusalem.

Every time a Jew paid his or her taxes, he was reminded that his country was not free. Some Jews, notably the Pharisees, hated the tax because they believed God was their king. Refusing to pay the tax contributed to the final destruction of the Jewish state in the “Bar Kochba” rebellion of A. D. 135. Early in Jesus’ life (A. D. 6), a man named Judas led an insurrection against this tax (see the reference at Acts 5:37). The Jews did not want to pay taxes, at least not with the Roman coin, because it had the inscription and image of the Caesar whom the Romans worshipped as a god. What does Jesus think?

They want Jesus to either offend the common people and lose their popularity or offend the political leaders and be jailed or, better yet, killed. They apparently do not realize they are literally fulfilling the previous parable Jesus spoke to them (12:1-12)!

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD’S PEOPLE AND THE CIVIL GOVERNMENT - 12:15b-17:
Jesus, as always, knows how to take the stronger argument. In this case, He called for someone to bring to Him the coin in question. They brought Him the coin, a denarius, which they were paid each day. Then He asked them whose image and whose inscription was on the coin. They answered, “Caesar’s.” Jesus then drew the logical conclusion: “If Caesar provides you coins with which to be paid, give him what he requires. But also give to God what He requires.” A more sensible response could not be provided. It also argues against the idea, with which Jesus was put to death, that Jesus was a threat to the civil government.

Jesus’ questioners marveled at His answer and the disciples of the Pharisees were silenced and they left Him.

APPLICATION:
Paul (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Tim. 2:1-2) and Peter (1 Peter 2:17) will reiterate Jesus’ point here that God’s followers are obligated to support their local government, including with taxes (unless their government requires something which violates the commands of God: Acts 4:19; 5:29).

Some religious groups, notably the Jehovah’s Witnesses, do not believe one can “pledge allegiance” to their civil government and be devoted to God concurrently. However, giving “what is Cesar’s to Caesar” does not stop one from devoting to God what is God’s, as long as one recognizes that the highest allegiance (see 12:30-31) is owed to Jehovah God. The commands and expectations of God surpass the commands and expectations of the state. Does the state have the right to stop Christians from worshipping? No. It does not. Regardless of what any man-made laws say, the Christians’ obligations to obey Jesus Christ transcend what man might require through his laws. At the same time, in the event that man’s laws do not contradict God’s laws, then man is obligated to obey those who are put into authority over the Christian.

Take home message: Let us give proper respect to those who lead us (locally and nationally) but give our higher allegiance to Jehovah God and His Son.

Start an evangelism conversation: “If you were to die tonight, are you sure you would go to heaven?”